Last Train to Clarksville

How Do You Choose A Buyers Agent?

Look at that group of Realtors!  They all look great, professional and ready to do business. In Clarksville, TN we have over 700 Real Estate Agents that are ready to work for YOU! So every time you call a Real Estate Company to find out information on a home you just saw or have been looking at in the magazine

You will be asked the question: Are you currently working with a Realtor? 

If you decide to get in your car and drive around the subdivisions, you might have a Realtor in their vehicle waiting for you to stop and get out so they can speak with you and try to help you find what you are looking for.  They might not even wait for you to get out and just pull up.  Whatever the how or why Realtors seek your business, you need to know the ins and outs of finding the right Realtor for you. 

The FIRST thing you might ask is:

• Do I even need a Realtor right now? 

It’s a fair question to ask. But do you really know what a Realtor’s job is? Do you wonder how much they charge?  Let’s first discuss one of the misconceptions about a Realtor:

1. How much does it cost to hire Team Agnew as your Realtor Team?  The answer is NOTHING!

Ok, so I am saying you don’t pay us a dime!  Your next question might be:

    2. How do we get paid for spending our time helping you by: 

• Blocking off our calendar to search, narrow down your criteria, search, schedule and show you homes.
• Using our fuel to show and open homes that require a sentrilock key only sold to licensed Reators.
• Using our knowledge to search records to show you a price that is based off the current market and write up the offer on our legal documents, that also require a licensed professional.
• Using our expertise in negotiating counter offers in case the seller doesn’t like your offer.
• Helping you with information you don’t have at your fingertips when it comes to home inspection, walk thru and many more situations that could come up in a transaction.
• To make sure the Lenders are on top of everything and that you will be closing on time.  Being the go between when something is needed and the Lender can’t get a hold of you.
• To make sure the HUD at closing is correct and mirrors the contract stipulations.
• To make sure that my client is at closing?

We get paid by our Brokerage not our Buyer Clients. The commission paid to our Brokerage is from the Seller. 

For example: If the Seller agrees to pay a 6% commission when their home sells, then the Listing Brokerage gets 3% and will pay the Selling Brokerage 3%.  Out of the 3%, the Selling Brokerage will collect their fees and then take their split between the Agent and Brokerage, normally a 70/30 but I have seen others have 60/40 and even less. Once that is done, then we will get paid.  Normally we are paid within 48 hours after closing on the home.

So, now that you understand that you are not out of pocket for “hiring” a Professional that is licensed in the area that you are venturing; you should be relieved that you aren’t going to have to pay someone and worry whether your getting your money’s worth because their is no money changing hands here. We can now ask the question:

     3. How do I choose a Realtor when there are so many in our area?

Here are some things to think about on how to choose the Realtor for you:

• No matter how you find the Realtor that makes you decide to pick up the phone and call, whether it be a magazine, business card, website, blog, yard sign, be sure to really listen to what he/she has to say and ask your questions. Before you call you might want to have your questions in hand.  What do you want in a Realtor that will be representing you in a major decision in your life? 
  • Well, you want to make sure they are going to email you right away. Are you looking for a certain criteria?  They should give you a time of when those homes will be in your email account.
  • They should be concerned and up front about you being pre-qualified.  The reason why you need to be pre-qualified is to make sure you are comfortable with the payments a certain home that you like, will bring.  You don’t want to spend money that you will cause you to have a hard time enjoying your home.  Another misconception is Buyers think that when they get pre-qualified it’s like a credit card or car qualification check.  That is not the case.  You have a time frame window to get as many pre-qualifications without hurting your credit. Amanda with Anchor Mortgage would be able to explain it better than I can.  (Her information is on the right side of this blog.)
  • You want a Realtor who will be in close communication and not hand you off to someone else because they might be busy with another customer.  Once I have a customer that decides they want to be my client, I have my schedule made out to be available when they need me.  If I can’t it will be within reason and something that can be worked around and everyone in agreeance. There are times when a Realtor might have to attend a death in the family or something major and when this happens, the client will be comfortable with the situation because I have already introduced them to my Team and they are understanding that certain events are unexpected.

Some things you need to know about what a Realtor CAN’T do are:

• Tell you which schools are the best
• Tell you what the crime rate is in the area you want to live
• Tell you who lives in the neighborhood you are interested in
• Tell you which neighborhoods are the best to live in
• Point you in the direction where a certain race or religion is

The Realtor should ask you if you are working with a Realtor and the reason why we have been taught to ask this question as soon as possible, is because we need to make sure we aren’t working with someone else’s client.  Until you are signed to a Buyers Agreement with an Agent, you are still a customer.  Once you sign with someone, your loyalty should be with your Agent and any questions you have about any property should be directed to them only.  If you don’t want to bother your Agent or feel that you might be bothering him/her with so many questions, I’m here to tell you DON’T go to another Agent.  They are will eventually be paid to represent you in every way, to include answering all questions and communicating with you when ever you need it. Another Realtor would not be paid for showing you homes while your Agent is doing something else.

Personally, as a Realtor, I like to meet with my customers at least 2 or 3 times to make sure that we work well with one another and build trust and loyalty.  Once that has been established, there shouldn’t be any problem signing a Buyers Representation Agreement between the Brokerage and the customer.  This Agreement is to reassure you that I am doing all it says to represent you in your best interest, to find the home that you are interested in and what my duties are to you.  If for any reason you decide you just can’t work with me, then you would have the right to speak with my Broker and ask to be released. It’s really not that complicated.  So you will have the time to make the decision if I am what you are looking for in a Realtor.

I hope this has cleared up any confusion about “Hiring” a Realtor to help you with your home search.

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